Tuesday, April 5, 2011

ScienceDaily (Apr. 5, 2011) — Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine may have found a way to turn an adaptive cellular response into a liability for cancer cells. When normal cells are starved for food, they chew up existing proteins and membranes to stay alive. Cancer cells have corrupted that process, called autophagy, using it to survive when they run out of nutrients and to evade death after damage from chemotherapy and other sources. When the Penn investigators treated a group of patients with several different types of advanced cancers with temsirolimus, a molecularly targeted cancer drug that blocks nutrient uptake, plus hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug that inhibits autophagy, they saw that tumors stopped growing in two-thirds of the patients.

Most Illegal Immigrant Families Collect Welfare

Surprise, surprise; Census Bureau data reveals that most U.S. families headed by illegal immigrants use taxpayer-funded welfare programs on behalf of their American-born anchor babies.

Even before the recession, immigrant households with children used welfare programs at consistently higher rates than natives, according to the extensive census data collected and analyzed by a nonpartisan Washington D.C. group dedicated to researching legal and illegal immigration in the U.S. The results, published this month in a lengthy report, are hardly surprising.

No freedom of speech in France. You can be sued for your views there. “It’s true that the increase in the number of faithful in (Islam), a certain number of behaviours, poses a problem,” he said on Monday. Singling out the “problem” of Muslims praying in the street, he said that France’s secular law dates from 1905 when there were “very few Muslims”, while their number today is between five and six million. The anti-racism group SOS Racisme said it would be launching legal action against Mr Gueant for inciting racial hatred.

For photographers who are attached to their analog equipment but can no longer resist the pull of the digital age, RE35 proposes a solution: a digital cartridge that fits into any 35mm camera and connects to your computer via USB. The RE-35 cartridge, in place of film, has a pull-out “sensor” that captures the images and saves them to flash memory within the cartridge. When plugged in to a computer, the cartridge charges and transfers images with built-in software.

NPR CEO Vivian Schiller spoke Tuesday at the Paley Center for Media in New York and lashed out at the videographers who exposed the bigotry in her organization, calling the undercover sting an "abomination." She admitted the rest of the establishment is "terrified" of being the next NPR, Planned Parenthood or ACORN

Newly-released pictures show people clinging on for their lives as the tsunami hit Japan

The first three pictures in this gallery were taken on March 11 as the tsunami hit Minamisanriku in northern Japan. In the first picture, survivors cling to an antenna mast and handrails on the roof of the Government Disaster Readiness Centre, as the tsunami sweeps in...

...All but nine of the 30 people who were on the roof were swept away by the huge wave...

...The skeleton of the devastated building is all that remains after the water has receded

Waves go directly from the transmitter to the receiver -- avoiding an eavesdropper

Physicists Create Tap-Proof Waves

ScienceDaily (Apr. 4, 2011) — Scientists at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna) have developed a method to steer waves on precisely defined trajectories, without any loss. This way, sound waves could be sent directly to a target, avoiding possible eavesdroppers.

Payload to LEO:Falcon Heavy: 53,000kg. Space Shuttle: 24,400kg. Falcon Heavy, the world’s most powerful rocket, represents SpaceX’s entry into the heavy lift launch vehicle category. With the ability to carry satellites or interplanetary spacecraft weighing over 53 metric tons (117,000 lb) to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Falcon Heavy can lift nearly twice the payload of the next closest vehicle, the US Space Shuttle, and more than twice the payload of the Delta IV Heavy.

The moral price of dependence on government is even higher than the financial cost.

That crashing sound you hear? It's the sound of welfare states in collapse. From Albany to Athens, all but the dimmest observers now recognize that the model we've been following has run aground—morally, socially and fiscally. Less clear is what's going to replace it.

Today, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan gives a hint at the possibilities. Over the next few weeks, the Beltway will consume itself defending or defenestrating his numbers and projections. Yet Mr. Ryan's budget is less about dollars and cents than the assumption behind them: that the best way to help Americans is to increase their choices and lower their taxes.

Fine Jungle Craftsmanship

April 5, 2011: The U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) finally sent a team down to Ecuador to do a thorough technical analysis of one of the two submarines found down there in the last eight months. These subs are real, but it took some arm-twisting to get ONI to take it all seriously, and carefully examine one of the boats. The ONI team spent 48 hours going over the small sub, and concluded that it was more sophisticated than first thought. The outer hull was made out of strong, lightweight, Kevlar/carbon fiber that was sturdy enough to keep the sub intact, but very difficult to detect with most sensors. The hull could not survive deep dives, but this boat didn't have to go deep to get the job done. The ONI team concluded that the diesel-electric power supply, diving and surfacing system and navigational system were all in working order. Some of those who built this boat probably had experience building recreational subs, but some of the others had impressive knowledge of the latest materials used to build exotic boats. As the ONI team assembled all their findings, it became clear that something extraordinary was happening in these improvised jungle shipyards.

The two fiberglass/Kevlar submarines found so far were obviously built to transport cocaine to North America. Neither the United States, nor anyone else who might know, are talking about how many of these subs are out there, or believed to be in operation or under construction. Similar type boats could be built for terrorist or espionage missions.

What is known is that the U.S. Navy, in cooperation with some Central and South American navies, is looking for these subs, at sea and on land. While these submarines don't run very deep (less than 20 meters/62 feet), they are invisible to most sensors when completely submerged. These subs were designed to run on batteries for 18 hours, before having to surface and recharge. When they are at sea, they usually operate their diesel engines. These are noisy. Sonar can pick up this noise over a long distance, and now that two of them have been captured, it's been possible to run the engines and get a sound profile of this type of boat, and equip American sonar systems with this data. The ONI team calculated that the sub they examined had a range (on internal fuel) of about 12,000 kilometers. Thus the boat could get from Colombia to southern California, and back.

Government funding runs out Friday, but Congress has to reach a deal by the end of the day Tuesday if it wants to avoid a lapse in federal finances.

ENTITLEMENTS Scheduled Social Security checks and food stamps would arrive and Medicare/Medicaid benefits would still be available.

PENTAGONRobert Gates specifically addressed the matter in a House Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday, saying that any lapse in funding would not affect any current military operations.

PARKS & MUSEUMS As nonessential facilities, national parks and Smithsonian museums are likely to close their doors during a shutdown.

FEDERAL WORKER PAY Congress will have to include in whatever budget legislation is eventually passed provisions to pay federal staffers who worked in essential capacity during the shutdown. During the shutdowns that occurred in 1995-1996, nearly half a million such employees continued to work for retroactive pay.

Older lesbian, gay and bisexual adults in California are more likely to suffer from chronic physical and mental health problems than their heterosexual counterparts, a new analysis has found. They also are less likely to have live-in partners or adult children who can help care for them. …

Older gay and bisexual men — ages 50 to 70 — reported higher rates of high blood pressure, diabetes and physical disability than similar heterosexual men, according to the researchers. Older gay and bisexual men also were 45 percent more likely to report symptoms of psychological distress and 50 percent more likely to rate their health as fair or poor. In addition, one in five gay men in California was living with H.I.V. infection, the researchers found.

Older lesbian and bisexual women experienced similar rates of diabetes and hypertension compared with straight women of their age, but reported significantly more physical disabilities and psychological distress and were 26 percent more likely to say their health was fair or poor.

The best-selling Playboy edition was the November 1972 edition, which sold 7,161,561 copies.

“I remember this issue because Jack Anderson was the subject of the interview, as he had just won a Pulitzer Prize for uncovering some funny business between the USA and Pakistan. Back in the '70's I worked with one of Andersons'daughters, a good little LDS girl who had a bit of a wild and unshackled side. It's interesting who one encounters living in the D.C. area. “The Gaffer

Inflation inflicting pain, as wages fail to keep pace with price hikes. “It’s not just that prices are rising — it’s that wages aren’t. Previous bouts of inflation have usually meant a wage-price spiral, as pay and prices chase each other ever upward. But now paychecks are falling further and further behind. In the past three months, consumer prices have been rising at a 5.7 percent annual rate while average weekly wages have barely budged, increasing at an annual rate of only 1.3 percent.”

Obama picked a strange time to launch his 2012 reelection bid; Or did he really? “As an unknown political commodity, Obama announced his first presidential campaign 21 months before the 2008 election. As a world-famous face, this time Obama announced 19 months in advance. Why not wait till, say, October? Here’s why: Obama’s sagging approval, stubborn unemployment and a sluggish economy make him appear vulnerable. Not crippled, but vulnerable. In a democracy, that gets potential challengers thinking — and not just Republicans.”

Ex-NPR Chief Blames House Republicans for 'Turmoil'

As an iconic piece of British engineering heritage, the Avro Vulcan takes some beating. Watching it bank in to its final approach at Doncaster's Robin Hood Airport, the big delta wing highlighted against the clouds, it looks effortlessly graceful. It seems to approach in silence, gliding down to earth, a puff of smoke from the tyres as they kiss the tarmac and the sudden blooming of the parachute behind before the thunderous sound-signature of the four Olympus turbojets finally catches up and bellows over the assembled crowd.

It's hard to believe that the Vulcan first flew back in 1952. The sleek lines make it look futuristic even today. Almost 60 years ago it must have seemed incredible. It was designed by the same team that created the Lancaster and indeed barely a decade separates the creation of two bombers that seem to come from different millennia.

Who Sent a Bloody Pig’s Foot & Anti-Semitic Note to Rep. Peter King?

Democrats don't like GOP plan to postpone shutdown

WASHINGTON, April 5 (Reuters) - A Republican plan that would give negotiators another week to craft a budget deal and avoid a government shutdown is unacceptable to Democrats, a congressional aide said on Tuesday.

Professor Arrested for Shutting Student's Laptop in Class

Frank J. Rybicki, an assistant professor of mass media at Valdosta State University, was arrested by campus police last week on a charge of battery after shutting the laptop of a student who was web surfing in class.

Forbes: The Anachronism of State Income Taxes

Nine states survive perfectly well with no state income tax at all. These include large states such as Texas and Florida, medium-size states such as Tennessee and Washington, and smaller states, in terms of population, such as New Hampshire, Nevada, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Alaska. This policy should now be extended to the other 41 states.

Income taxes are the most economically destructive of all taxes. That is because income levies tax directly the reward for work, savings, investment, and entrepreneurship. With the reward reduced, the incentive for pursuing these economically productive activities is reduced. The result is less work, less saving, less investment, fewer new businesses, less business growth, less job creation, lower wages and income, and lower overall economic growth.

Even car lovers find it difficult to pinpoint the raison d’etre of the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport, given the ridiculous price and speed of 431 km/h (268 mph) it can reach. Yes, the new Super Sport Version claimed the title as the fastest road-legal once again, by reaching the Guinness World of Records-certified top speed of 431.07 km/h (267.85 mph). This is the world record edition that was shipped to the United States. But the cars shipped to buyers are restricted to 415 km/h (258 mph).

t took a few dozen people, including Special Forces soldiers, to capture this sacred giant turtle

This massive turtle, weighing 440 pounds, was pulled out of Hanoi's Ho Hoan Kiem, or Lake of the Returned Sword, by a few dozen people, including Special Forces soldiers, using three nets.

Vietnamese legend has it that a giant turtle in that same lake — possibly the exact same turtle — retrieved a magic sword that had been given to the king, Le Loi, in the 15th Century, and Le Loi used that sword to win independence from China's Ming Dynasty. The lake was named after the turtle's feat, and Hanoi was built up around it.

The Internal Revenue Service is stepping up audits of wealthier taxpayers as part of a multiyear effort to crack down on tax avoidance.

According to the agency's latest statistical report for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, the percentage of taxpayers who were audited increased in every category of adjusted gross income above $500,000, compared with a year earlier.

Voters continue to view the Republican agenda in Congress as more mainstream than the agenda of the Democrats. But only one-in-four voters think the average member of either party shares the same ideology they do.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Voters shows that 45% say it would be more accurate to describe the agenda of Republicans in Congress as mainstream, up five points from last month. Thirty-eight percent (38%) say it's more accurate to describe that agenda as extreme, while 17% more are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

But half of voters (50%) say the Democratic agenda in Congress is extreme, while 37% see it as mainstream, also up five points from a month ago. Another 14% are not sure.

Inside the whirlwind of the Middle East's current turmoil, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that the Obama administration's original strategy for the region has crashed and burned. Recall its key elements. ...

All of it now lies largely in tatters. Obama's outreach to Iran and Syria was greeted with predictable contempt. His quixotic fixation on the holy grail of a settlements freeze left peace talks dead in the water. The explosion of popular unrest that first shook Iran in 2009, and which is now sweeping Arab lands, exposed the intellectual vacuity of Obama's studied disregard of the region's freedom deficit. Similarly, the president's seeming inability to grasp America's vital interest in Iraq's success, and his headlong rush for the exits by the end of 2011, has rendered that country's democratic experiment increasingly untethered and at the mercy of Iran's Islamic Republic.

An instinct for reassuring hardened enemies, disregarding longtime friends, and distrusting the exercise of American power. These were, unfortunately, the dominant notes that a troubled region heard emanating from Obama's uncertain trumpet for much of the last two years. ...